Time to get Social- China! ^^

Hi All! :D

This post is gonna be a bit different than usual, and the topic is... Social Networks! :D East-Asian ones of course! ^^

So you know how, in English-speaking countries, we have social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr? (Which I only use one of <<") Well have you heard of any from East Asia? ^^ If you haven't, here are some below with a brief description and review, and if you like the sound of them- feel free to check them out for yourself! xD

Today, I will be introducing some of the major ones from China, and if you guys are interested, I'll post some from Japan and Korea too! ^^

Weibo 微博

Weibo (微博) is like the Chinese counterpart of Twitter which can be found online at: www.weibo.com 

The site is in complete Chinese. Whether or not it allows you to translate it into other languages I have not found out about yet, but they do have apps available for the iPhone/iPod Touch (not sure about iPad), as well as Android smartphones which is an "international" version with user interface in English. 

I personally prefer Weibo over Twitter any day, and that's because, for me, it's much easier to get followers and get connected with others on Weibo than it is on Twitter- but that's just from personal experience. I would also suggest using Weibo for those of you who are learning Chinese at around intermediate level and higher, it would help with your Chinese vocabulary and fluency-wise.

And also, if you are interested in Chinese celebs and shows, you'll most probably find them on Weibo. ^^

My Weibo: "靓靓2926" (liangliang2926) ^^

(The registration process is the same as any other social networks, eg. Name, Age, E-Mail Address, Password etc.)

QQ

I know what you're thinking!! "This mascot is soo cute~! >w<" But don't underestimate this penguin, because it's the mascot of one of the most (if not the most) dominating companies in China!

QQ is pretty much the Chinese equivalent of... MSN?  <<" In a way it is, but that comparison really does no justice to the true mass of digital services behind those flippers! The reason I compared it to MSN is because it's main feature is a messenger/ IM Chat. Well at least that's what it started off as, but now that's a different matter. 

QQ is a little different compared to other social networks, you will need to download it like you would MSN and then install it. I can't remember clearly if you need an E-Mail address to sign up, but I bet you do. (What doesn't these days??) You won't be logging in with your E-Mail address though, or your standard customize-able username, instead, you are allocated your own unique combination of digits most probably starting with the number 2. Mine is about 10 digits, and yes, you will have to remember this off by heart (unless you're gonna tick the "log me in automatically" box every time, but what if you forget it?).

As I said, QQ has a variety of products such as: QQ Mail, QQ Music (a free program where you can stream online music and... ehem... download. Legal or not, I don't know. Different people have different opinions on that matter.), online video streaming, anti-virus programs, loads of games, etc.

If you are a foreigner and you'd like to use QQ, I'd suggest that you make a lot of friends with QQ first hehe, QQ is rather boring if you don't have any friends to add. But if you are like me, you might want to try creating a QQ account and just use the other features such as QQ Music ^^ 

This is all for now, I may add some more later! ^^

Comment, Rate, Follow...? ^w^

-Mew x